Communique: Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State
and Government: Presidential Guest House, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa,
26-27 January 2009

1. The Extra-Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of
State and Government met at the Presidential Guest house in Pretoria, Republic
of South Africa on 26-27 January 2009. The Extraordinary Summit met to review
the implementation of the Zimbabwe Global Political Agreement.

2. The Extraordinary Summit was chaired by H.E.
Kgalema Motlanthe, Chairperson of SADC and President of the Republic of South
Africa

3. The Extraordinary Summit was attended by the
following Heads of State and Government or their representatives:

4. The meeting was also attended by His Excellency
Thabo Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South Africa and SADC
Facilitator on the Zimbabwe Political Dialogue, Leaders of MDC Formations, Right
Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister Designate and Professor Welshman
Ncube,representing Professor Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister Designate
of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and the Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr. Tomaz
Augusto Salomão.

5. In his opening remarks, His Excellency President
Kgalema Motlanthe, Chairpeson of SADC and President for the Republic of South
Africa welcomed all delegates to the meeting and re-affirmed SADC’s commitment
to finding a lasting solution to the implementation of the Zimbabwe global
political agreement.

6. The Extraordinary Summit noted that the people of
zimbabwe are faced with difficult challenges and suffering that can only be
addressed once an inclusive governmnet in in place.

7. In view of the above, the Extraordinary Summit
decided as follows:

(i) the parties shall endeavour to cause parliament
to pass the constitutional ammendemnet 19 by 5 february 2009.

(ii) the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime
Ministers shall be sworn in by 11 february 2009:

(iii) the Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be
sworn in on 13 february 2009, which will conclude the process of the formation
on the inclusive governmnt.

(iv) The Joint-Monitoring Implementation Committee
(JOMIC), provided for in the Global Political Agreement shall be activated
immediately. The first meeting of JOMIC shall be convened by the facilitator on
30 January 2009 and shall, among other things, elect the chairpesons;

(v) The allocation of ministerial portfolios endorsed
by the SADC Extraordinary Summit held on 9 November 2008 shall be reveiwed six
(6) months after the inauguration of the inclusive governmnet.

(vi) The appointements of the Reserve Bank Governor
and the Attprney General will be dealt with by the inclusive government after
its formation

(vii) The negotiators of the parties shall meet
immediately to consider the natioanl security bill submitted by the MDCT-T as
well as the formula for the ditribution of governors:

8. The Extraordinary Summit expressed its
appreciarion for the efforts of His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, Former President of
the republic of South sfrica and the Facilitator of the political dialogue on
Zimbabwe in helping to find an amicable solution to challenges facing the
Republic of Zimbabwe and encouraged him to continue with his facilitation
efforts.

9. The Extraordinary Summit commended the political
parties to the Global Political Agreement for their opennnes and constructive
engagement in finding a lasting solutio to the challenges facing
Zimbabwe.

10. SADC shall remain seized with the Zimbabwe
situation in keeping wth its obligations as guarantor of the Global Poliical
Agreement.

11. The Extraordinary Summit directed the chairperson
of the SADC to present the African Union at its forthcoming summit a progress
report on the implementation of the Sham- El-Sheik Resolution

12. The Extraordinary Summit received a brief on the
prevailing security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and supports
the govermnet efforts to findimng a lasting solutionb to the conflict in the
Eastern part of the country. The government of the DRC expressed it gratitude to
SADC for the support thau far rendered.

13. The Extraordinary Summit also urged the
interantional community to continue providing the people of the Democratic
republic of Congo with humanitarian assistance.

MDC's
Response to the SADC Communique of the 27th of January 2009, Tswane South
Africa

1. The Enactment of Constitutional
Amendment Number 192. The definition of National Security Council
legislation3. Equitable allocation of portfolio ministries4. The
appointment of Provincial Governors and other senior positions.5. The
Breaches of the MOU and the GPA

It was our expectation that the SADC
processes would be above board and be beyond reproach. Regrettably once
again we note that Mr. Mugabe was allowed to sit in during the closed
session of the plenary meetings. Thus once again Mr. Mugabe has been
unfairly allowed to be a judge in his own cause.

As far as the merits are
concerned, our expectations were again that SADC would come up with a just
resolution to the outstanding issues in the interest of Zimbabwe and all the
parties concerned.

Quite clearly the conclusions reached as reflected in
the communiqué fall far short of our expectations. Most importantly they do
not accord with our National Council resolutions of the 14th of November
2008 and 12th of December 2008.

It is important that finality be
brought to this issue and therefore our National Council will meet on Friday
30th of January 2008 to define the party position.

Deal?
No deal? SADC's Zimbabwe "breakthrough" in doubt

Harare/Pretoria - Zimbabweans
reacted sceptically Tuesday to conflicting reports out of a Southern African
summit about a possible breakthrough in the four-month standoff between
President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

'It
doesn't look good from here,' said John Makumbe, a political scientist at
the University of Harare in Zimbabwe. 'It appears Tsvangirai came under
extreme pressure to make concessions, and that there was minimal pressure on
Mugabe.

'We'll see when the MDC (Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change) national executive meets at the weekend. They're likely to throw out
the whole thing,' Makumbe said.

Earlier, the MDC blasted as
'malicious' assurances given by Zimbabwe's neighbours at the end of a
12-hour summit in South Africa that the party had overcome its misgivings
and agreed to join Mugabe in a power-sharing government.

'There was no agreement,' Joseph
Mungwari said. But in a statement the MDC was much less emphatic, saying
that while the outcome fell 'far short of our expectations,' the agreement
would be put to the party's top body.

After the talks between nine heads
of state and government from the 15-nation SADC and senior officials from
the five other members, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao, reading from
a communique, said: 'the prime minister (Tsvangirai) and the deputy prime
ministers shall be sworn in by February 11, 2009.'

The swearing-in of
ministers from Mugabe's Zanu-PF and two factions of the MDC would take place
two days later, ending the process of the formation of the inclusive
government, according to SADC.

Remaining sticking points in the
implementation of September's power-sharing accord, which sees Mugabe remain
president, would be dealt with afterwards, SADC said.

When asked
whether the MDC had agreed, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said:
'Yes, of course they will ensure that the amendment 19 (that makes
Tsvangirai prime minister) is enacted.'

Motlanthe also maintained that
the MDC had given in to a SADC proposal that it share control of the home
affairs ministry with Mugabe's Zanu-PF. The ministry was hotly disputed by
the two.

Before the summit, the MDC had balked at Mugabe's proposal for
the distribution of cabinet posts between the parties. The MDC also been
demanding that dozens of its members that have been arbitrarily detained or
disappeared in recent months be released.

The extraordinary SADC
summit, SADC's third such summit on Zimbabwe in under a year, comes as
Zimbabwe's health and economic crises spill over into the region.

At
least 33 people have died of cholera in South Africa in recent months as
sick, hungry Zimbabweans stream across the border. Zimbabwe's own death toll
is close to 3,000 since August, when the outbreak began in crowded
townships. Half the population of around 11 million requires food
aid.

European Union slapped sanctions on more of his allies and allied
companies Monday, citing the regime's 'ongoing failure to address the most
basic economic and social needs of its people.'

Reacting to the
summit outcome, Phillip Kwaragaza, a pastor, in Harare said: 'Our president
is too hard a nut for SADC to crack. SADC cannot help. We now depend on God
to intervene, like he did with the Israelites.'

Zimbabwe
Opposition Disputes Agreement on Power-Sharing

JOHANNESBURG, Jan.
27 -- Zimbabwe's fragile power-sharing pact remained in limbo Tuesday, after
Southern African leaders said the nation's rival parties had come to an
agreement but the main opposition party denied that.

Leaders of the
15-nation Southern African Development Community met Monday in Pretoria in
what was depicted as a last-ditch effort to salvage a deal between
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition. After 14 hours of
negotiations that ended at dawn, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe
told reporters that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would be sworn in as
prime minister Feb. 11, after parliament passes a constitutional amendment
creating the position.

But Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for
Democratic Change, swiftly issued a statement indicating that was not the
case. While a communique issued by SADC addressed some of the opposition
party's demands -- including, for example, a call for the parties to discuss
the assignment of provincial governors -- the MDC said it had not gone far
enough.

"Quite clearly the conclusions reached as reflected in the
communiqué fall far short of our expectations," the MDC said in a statement,
adding that the party's leadership would meet this weekend to discuss its
next move.

The continued impasse leaves Zimbabwe mired in political and
economic crisis. Inflation is sky-high, hunger is widespread, and sanitation
systems have collapsed, contributing to a cholera epidemic that has killed
nearly 3,000 people since August.

The power-sharing deal was signed
in September, six months after general elections in which the MDC won a
parliamentary majority and Tsvangirai outpolled Mugabe. Tsvangirai withdrew
from a runoff, citing state-sponsored violence against his supporters, and
Mugabe won as the sole candidate.

But the deal soon broke down over its
implementation and the opposition's complaints that Mugabe, who has ruled
Zimbabwe for 28 years, betrayed the spirit of the deal by trying to railroad
them into a junior position.

The opposition has refused to enter a unity
government unless dozens of detained and allegedly tortured opposition and
civil society activists are released unconditionally, a demand the SADC
communique did not mention. The regional body also stuck to a previous
recommendation that the MDC and Mugabe's party share control of the home
affairs ministry, which oversees the police that were used in the last
year's crackdown on the opposition. The MDC considers that idea
untenable.

A ruling party spokesman said Tuesday that Mugabe would form a
government regardless of the opposition's qualms.

"The dialogue about
a unity government has been closed," said Bright Matonga, the deputy
minister of information. "We will not be taking any more of their demands.
They have been shifting goal posts for months. . . . Very soon the president
will start the process of forming a new government."

A special
correspondent in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

Morgan
Tsvangirai mustn't share power with Robert Mugabe

Telegraph View: Morgan
Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe's MDC are right to be wary of the attempt to bounce
them into forming a unity government with Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-P.

Telegraph ViewLast Updated: 2:06PM GMT 27 Jan
2009

Morgan Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) are right to be wary of the attempt to bounce them into forming
a unity government with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Behind the move is
the 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) which made its
play last night after 14 hours of talks in Pretoria.

It asserted that Mr
Tsvangirai would be sworn into office as prime minister on February 11 in a
revival of the power-sharing deal signed by the MDC leader and Mr Mugabe
last September.

Kgalema Motlanthe, the South African President, when
asked if all parties were signed up to the new unity agreement, was
unequivocal: "Yes, of course".

He appears to have jumped the gun. The MDC
said the agreement fell "far short of our expectations" and the party
leadership will consider its formal response this weekend.

It should
reject the deal. It is now evident that its chief beneficiary will be Mugabe
whose position will be shored up by an agreement that will see him retain
the whip hand. It is evident that SADC has no intention of imposing any real
pressure on Mr Mugabe; its response to this humanitarian catastrophe has
been supine throughout.

Until SADC accepts that Mugabe's monstrous
behaviour is unacceptable and makes clear it wants him out, the tyrant will
continue to cling to power. The only African leader to emerge with much
credit has been Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga who has called on
Zimbabwe's armed forces to oust Mugabe and end his "murderous
reign".

And murderous it remains. The cholera epidemic Mugabe claims does
not exist has taken 3,000 lives, making it among the worst in history. Half
the population is dependent on food aid and the economy has disintegrated.
The central bank in Harare now prints a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note
- it is worth about £20.

For Mr Tsvangirai to throw in his lot with
the despot would simply serve to give this loathsome regime a fresh
legitimacy. He should resist SADC's blandishments and make clear that Mugabe
has to go.

Why 'power
sharing without the sharing' surprised no-one here

The feeling on the streets of Zimbabwe was
that there was little hope of agreement being reached between the MDC and
Zanu PF at the SADC summit in Pretoria, writes Helen.

None of the
signs were looking good.

Despite the fact that the MDC won the popular
vote in the 2008 March elections, their party continues to be criticised,
blamed, insulted and condemned in almost every issue of the state controlled
newspapers and on every radio and television news bulletin.

Over
thirty MDC and civic society activists have been picked up by Secret Police
and other security personnel in the past two months and have been held
without charge or trial for weeks at a time.

The whereabouts of some are
still unknown, weeks after they disappeared. Others have been tortured in
custody and have been denied medical attention - even after high court
rulings ordering immediate medical care.

Regardless of the
September agreement to actually share the running of Zimbabwe, Mr Mugabe
stormed ahead alone and appointed 10 Provincial Governors all of whom are
ex-officio Senators thereby giving Zanu PF a majority in the
Senate.

He appointed a new Attorney General, re-appointed the Reserve
Bank Governor and allocated major ministries to Zanu PF - leaving only minor
positions for the MDC. A number of MDC MPs have also recently found
themselves being charged by Police leaving the MDC's House of Assembly
majority in jeopardy.

Two days before the SADC Summit, Zanu PF were
already closing the door and made their intentions quite clear. Accordint to
Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu PF Chief negotiator, "Our position is that we will
not meet any new demands made by the MDC."

One day before the talks a
friend showed me his January pay advice and this barely legible piece of
paper says it all. Six zeroes have been removed from the printed notice due
to space constraints.

In January this middle manager earned 14 trillion
dollars. 7.6 trillion dollars was taken by various government deductions
leaving a nett monthly income of 6.7 trillion dollars.

On the day of
the SADC summit in South Africa, a loaf of bread was selling for 10 trillion
Zimbabwe dollars, or 1 US dollar - more than a middle managers entire
monthly salary.

Another friend said he hadn't been able to follow
the news of the SADC Summit because an electricity pole had fallen down and
stayed on the road for 4 days. The state run electricity company said they
had: no vehicle, no fuel and no pole.

14 hours of talks behind closed
doors left SADC saying an agreement had been reached. Zanu PF said nothing.
The MDC said they had not accepted the position given by
SADC.

Zimbabweans aren't confused or surprised. We are tired, sick,
hungry and broken, just as we were yesterday and in September 2008 and in
March 2008.

AU
Summit May Force Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Deal

Africa's top
diplomat has suggested that leaders gathering at an African Union summit
might force a solution to Zimbabwe's political stalemate. A.U. Commission
Chairman Jean Ping also expressed satisfaction with developments in Somalia,
despite the fall of a key town to Islamic extremists.

African Union
closely watching situation in Zimbabwe

Chairman Ping says African
leaders are watching very closely the Southern African Development Community
summit aimed at creating a government of national unity in Zimbabwe. If the
regional group known as SADC fails, as reports from Pretoria appear to
indicate, Ping says the African Union summit beginning Sunday could take its
own action to break the impasse.

"For sure we will ask SADC to make a
report and the other heads of state and government will pronounce themselves
on this, and a decision might be taken by the heads of state," Ping said. "
This is what I think will happen if we follow the regular
procedures."

Ping: power sharing impasse has created continental
crisis

The A.U. chief says the lack of agreement on a power sharing deal
between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and rival Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change had created a continental crisis
of a magnitude that the summit could not ignore.

"In Zimbabwe the
situation for us is clear enough. I told you we consider that if a country
can solve its problems by itself, why should we intervene? We leave it to
the country if course. But if a country cannot do it and a sub-region, SADC
or West Africa's ECOWAS can help in solving the problem, we leave it to
them," he said. "We help them, but we leave it to be solved by the region,
and if the region cannot, then we move to the African Union and the
U.N."

Ping declined to specify what action the summit might take, saying
that was up to the leaders to decide.

Mugabe, rival Tsvangirai
welcome to attend AU summit

He noted that President Mugabe has never
missed an A.U. summit, and suggested Mr. Tsvangirai would be welcome, too.
But he said the A.U. accredits countries rather than individuals to the
meetings of heads of state, meaning it would be up to President Mugabe's
government whether Mr. Tsvangirai could attend as an official.

The
former Gabonese foreign minister also says he is not surprised at the fall
of the Somali town of Baidoa, which was overrun Monday by the Islamist
extremist group al-Shabab after Ethiopian troops ended their two year
occupation. He noted that neither government forces or A.U. peacekeepers had
been in Baidoa, which had been used as the provisional seat of parliament
while it was under Ethiopian control.

"Since the beginning we were
not in Baidoa," he said. "Our forces were not there, and we knew the
situation like that, the tentative [temporary] occupation of Baidoa might
happen, and we shared this preoccupation with Ethiopia."

Situation in
Baidoa, Somali also cause for concern

Ping told reporters Ethiopian
officials had told him they were fully aware that Al-Shabab fighters would
move into Baidoa as soon as Ethiopian troops left. He also said Uganda and
Nigeria are set to announce contributions to the A.U. peacekeeping force
AMISOM that will substantially boost its current strength of 3.500
troops.

The A.U. chief says he is encouraged that forces of the
moderate Islamist ARS, or Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia, had
unexpectedly stood between peacekeepers and Islamists extremists who had
tried to take positions in the capital, Mogadishu.

The ARS is
currently in the process of joining forces with Somalia's transitional
government. The transitional parliament, meeting Monday in Djibouti, voted
to double its size so ARS members could be included, and the Alliance
leader, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed announced his candidacy for the country's
vacant presidency.

Mugabe's party
considers unilateral government

PRETORIA, South Africa - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party
said Tuesday it is prepared to form a government on its own if the
opposition won't join it - a move certain to anger the West.

Patrick
Chinamasa, spokesman for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, said the government should
be sworn in on Feb. 13, as proposed by regional leaders earlier in the day.
He said his party would give the opposition a few more days to decide
whether to join in a unity government.

Zimbabwe has been virtually
without a government since an inconclusive presidential vote held almost a
year ago. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says it won't join a
government until issues including ending state-sponsored violence against
dissidents and determining a fair distribution of Cabinet posts are
resolved.

Nqobizitha Mlilo, a spokesman for the MDC, told The Associated
Press that "the MDC has not agreed to go into government of national unity"
and its leaders would meet Friday to decide their next step.

A
government without the opposition would likely be condemned by the West -
the European Union on Monday added 62 individuals and companies to a
blacklist freezing assets and barring travel to those who funnel money to
prop up Mugabe and his clique.

But Mugabe is accustomed to Western
criticism, and may find support among African leaders who see the opposition
as blocking a solution.

In a communique Tuesday, nine nations' leaders
and Cabinet ministers from four other countries said a Zimbabwean prime
minister - the post Tsvangirai is to hold - will be sworn in Feb. 11 after
parliament passes a constitutional amendment creating the post. Ministers
would be sworn in Feb. 13, the statement from the regional bloc
said.

The opposition said the conclusions of the summit of the Southern
African Development Community, "fall far short of our
expectations."

An opposition statement Tuesday said the summit had failed
to address concerns including the equitable sharing of Cabinet posts and the
abduction and alleged torture of opposition members by government security
agents and police.

The opposition has consistently resisted pressure
to join a coalition government, in which it is agreed that Mugabe would
remain president, until these disputes are resolved.

The impasse over
forming a government has stranded Zimbabweans in a prolonged economic
crisis. Half the population in a once-prosperous nation is reliant on
international food handouts and a cholera epidemic caused by the collapse of
water services has killed almost 3,000 people.

In Harare, the Zimbabwean
capital, political scientist Eldred Masunungure of the University of
Zimbabwe agreed with the opposition that the summit "resolution doesn't
resolve anything."

He called it "a victory for Mugabe and ZANU-PF, but
there isn't much for the people of Zimbabwe to enjoy."

The summit,
however, agreed to Mugabe's demand that the opposition first enter into
government, then resolve outstanding issues.

The leaders also sided with
Mugabe in insisting that the rival parties should share the Cabinet
portfolio of home affairs - important because it oversees the police accused
of kidnapping and brutalizing opposition supporters.

Both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai are under pressure. Some of Tsvangirai's allies say he never
should have agreed to serve as prime minister under Mugabe, while Mugabe is
constrained by military and civilian aides who don't want to give up power
and access to corrupt gains.

Leaders at the summit appeared to ignore
pressure from all fronts, including Roman Catholic bishops of southern
Africa who called on them to stop supporting Mugabe or accept complicity in
a "passive genocide" of Zimbabweans dying of hunger and disease.

President Obama leads US drive to topple Robert Mugabe in
Zimbabwe

China and Russia have blocked previous moves against
Robert Mugabe in the UN

Tim Reid in Washington and Jonathan Clayton in
JohannesburgPresident Obama wants a fresh approach to toppling Robert Mugabe
and is discussing with aides an unprecedented, US-led diplomatic push to get
tough new UN sanctions imposed against the Zimbabwe regime, The Times has
learned.

During talks Mr Obama has had with his top Africa advisers in
recent weeks, the central idea they focused on was taking the issue of
Zimbabwe before the UN Security Council, but for the first time to combine
such a move with an intense diplomatic effort to persuade Russia and China
not to block the initiative.

According to a senior aide present at
the discussions, the goal of taking the issue of Zimbabwe to the Security
Council would be to pass a series of "strong" sanctions, including a ban on
arms sales and foreign investment. They also want to expand significantly
the number of ruling Zanu-PF party officials subject to
sanctions.

Last July, after Mr Mugabe was accused of rigging the
elections to stay in power, China and Russia, who have significant financial
interests in Zimbabwe, vetoed moves to impose UN sanctions. Mr Obama and his
aides believe that, with the growing international outcry over conditions
there and the devastating loss of life from the cholera outbreak, Beijing
and Moscow can now be persuaded at the very least to abstain when the issue
of sanctions comes to another vote.

"It is predicated on China and
Russia going along and this Administration will certainly undertake a new
round of constructive diplomacy with Russia and China on a whole range of
options," the aide told The Times. "It will depend on an arc of Obama
diplomacy in the coming months."Pressure on China and Russia will also be
coordinated with Britain and France at the UN. "To get even an abstention
would be a tremendous victory," the aide said.

A key figure in any
new approach will be Susan Rice, Mr Obama's UN ambassador, who was Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Clinton administration and is
a Zimbabwe expert.

"Susan is extremely aware of what is going on in
Zimbabwe and she feels very strongly that there is a tremendous miscarriage
of justice in that country and that it has to end," the aide said. "Once she
has her feet on the ground she is going to turn her attention to this
issue."

During her Senate confirmation hearings earlier this month, Dr
Rice said that the US would take a leading role at the UN in tackling the
"thorny challenges of peacekeeping in the context of Darfur and Congo and
the autocracy in the context of Zimbabwe".

Mr Obama and Dr Rice are
also understood to be anxious that Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change, does not agree to a power-sharing
deal with Mr Mugabe that has been under negotiation for weeks.

They
and other Western diplomats were encouraged by the collapse of talks
yesterday that regional leaders had convened to make progress on the main
issues blocking the formation of a unity government. Mr Tsvangirai was
offered the option of sharing with Mr Mugabe, but the opposition leader
refused to accept because he was not given control over the Zimbabwean
police - the main tool of oppression in the country.

Leaders of the
MDC reacted angrily to claims by southern African mediators that an
agreement had been brokered to form a unity government by the middle of next
month. They accused the Southern African Development Community (SADC) of
trying to railroad them into a deal that kept the main levers of power in Mr
Mugabe's hands.

The US and Britain are anxious that Mr Tsvangirai does
not weaken and sign up to a power-sharing deal because the failure to reach
an accord helps clear the way to take the issue back to the UN. Zimbabwe
will again be discussed at the African Union's annual summit this week, in
Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, but little progress is expected to be
made.

"We have leverage over Russia and we are working on China," one
diplomat told The Times. "If SADC talks fail, then the African Union fails,
then the deal is dead in the water and the way is clear to take the issue
back to the Security Council."

Significantly South Africa, which is
viewed by Western diplomats as an "enabler" of Mr Mugabe and unwilling to
take him on, has stepped down as one of the Security Council's non-permanent
members and can no longer lobby China and Russia for an alternative
approach, which it has done in the past.

However, a party spokesman
categorically denied this during an interview with The Zimbabwe Times
Tuesday afternoon.

Party insiders told The Zimbabwe Times in Johannesburg
Tuesday that if not immediately tamed, the fresh wrangle, said to be between
party President Morgan Tsvangirai and Secretary General, Tendai Biti, might
lead to either a "boardroom coup" or a second split of the party in less
than five years.

The sources said that factionalism, which first emerged
after the party withdrew from the Presidential run-off of June 27, 2008,
which Tsvangirai boycotted leaving President Robert Mugabe to contest alone
and eventually claim victory, grew after the power-sharing agreement that
was signed three months later and worsened on Monday.

"There has
always been bad blood between the two leaders since the run-off vote," said
one source.

"Things got worse when Tsvangirai eventually signed the
power-sharing agreement with Mugabe on September 15, against advice from
other top party officials, led by Biti, who wanted out of the deal, after
the document had been altered."

The sources said that Biti and a few
other top party officials were against a unity government that leaves Mugabe
fully in charge of the country, saying that instead, the MDC should mobilize
for fresh polls.

"However, Tsvangirai said that he had been assured by
mediator, Thabo Mbeki that Mugabe would honour the signed agreement and also
make sure that the original document is used to form the basis of the
government.

"Mugabe himself also made that undertaking during a meeting
between him and the opposition leaders, after Tsvangirai had been put under
pressure by his party to refuse signing the deal."

The rift allegedly
continued to widen as Mugabe later proved to have duped the MDC into signing
that altered document.

"Other leaders suggested that the MDC should pull
out of the power sharing agreement if Mugabe kept his stance, but that
decision was held back by the President each time it was to be made, as he
hoped that Mugabe would later compromise.

"Things got worse on
Tuesday morning, after Tsvangirai agreed to form the unity government with
Mugabe, despite having assured the executive in Harare on January 18 that he
would not bow down to pressure and would rather pull out of the deal if the
party's demands ere not met," said another source.

Biti is said to have
castigated Tsvangirai for allegedly agreeing to form a unity government with
Mugabe, without any written assurance by the 84-year-old leader that the
MDC's outstanding demands would be met, after the extraordinary summit held
by the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Pretoria
between Monday and Tuesday.

"Biti is very angry with him and it seems
that the Secretary General has the backing of other party top officials in
this.

"What is left now is for the matter to be tabled before the
National Council, which looks most likely to turn down the agreed SADC
proposal," said the source.

"The other officials within the party say
that if this unity government is formed in the basis provided, then the MDC
will lose support, while Zanu-PF gains and want out unless all conditions
set by the party are met."

South African President, Kgalema Motlanthe,
who is also the SADC chairman, told reporters in Pretoria Tuesday morning
after the summit, which took about 14 hours, that there had been a unanimous
agreement among SADC heads of state and the Zimbabwean political leaders
that a government will be in place by mid-February.

SADC also issued
a follow-up communiqué, which said that the much-vaunted all-inclusive
government would have been fully implemented by February 13.

Biti is said
to have the backing of the party's powerful treasurer, Roy Bennett, while
Tsvangirai is backed by his deputy, Thokozani Khupe and party organizing
secretary, Elias Mudzuri.

In a brief response to The Zimbabwe Times
Sibotshiwe, professed ignorance of the alleged rift within the
MDC.

"I cannot say anything because I have not heard about that alleged
rift," said Sibotshiwe Tuesday afternoon.

No comment could be
obtained from official MDC spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, who was part of
Tsvangirai's delegation in Pretoria.

But, responding to the SADC
communique, a statement issued by the MDC through Chamisa said the
conclusions reached at the summit fell short of its expectations.

"It
was our expectation that the SADC processes would be above board and be
beyond reproach," the statement said. "Regrettably once again we note that
Mr. Robert Mugabe was allowed to sit in during the closed session of the
plenary meetings. Thus once again Mr. Mugabe has been unfairly allowed to be
a judge in his own cause.

"As far as the merits are concerned, our
expectations were again that SADC would come up with a just resolution to
the outstanding issues in the interest of Zimbabwe and all the parties
concerned.

"Quite clearly the conclusions reached as reflected in the
communiqué fall far short of our expectations. Most importantly they do not
accord with our National Council resolutions of the 14th of November 2008
and 12th of December 2008."

The statement said in a quest for
finality the MDC National Council was scheduled to meet on Friday, January
30, to define the party's position.

Zimbabwe pupils
turned away as teachers strike

HARARE (AFP) -
Zimbabwean schools turned pupils away Tuesday on the opening day of the
academic year as teachers protested monthly salaries that due to run-away
inflation are as low as three US dollars.

More than 80 percent of
teachers had heeded calls to strike, continuing with action that had begun
last year, said Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

"Teachers are sending a clear message that we are
suffering. Government must start engaging us positively," Majongwe told
AFP.

Schools in the capital Harare asked pupils to return home after
teachers failed to show.

"We have reached an 80 percent success rate
as teachers did not report for work across the country. We will be hitting
the 100 percent mark on Thursday," Majongwe warned.

Zimbabwe's
education ministry had put back school opening day by two weeks to Tuesday,
blaming a delay in the marking of last year's exam papers.

Many
Zimbabwean teachers have fled to neighbouring countries in recent years
because of the low salaries and the economic crisis ravaging the once
prosperous southern African country.

The strike comes with Zimbabwe
still in the grip of a political crisis four months after President Robert
Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.

A summit of regional leaders on Tuesday gave Mugabe and
Tsvangirai until mid-February to form a unity government, but the opposition
refused to commit to the latest timeline.

Zimbabwean teachers were
this month paid 26 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, worth just three US dollars on
the parallel market where most currency trading is done.

Teachers
went on strike for the greater part of 2008 demanding to be paid salaries in
line with the ever rising inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent
in July, but believed to be even higher now.

The teachers are demanding
monthly salaries that would amount to 2,200 US dollars (1,670 euros) before
they will return to work.

Schools have proposed charging fees in foreign
currency as the Zimbabwe dollar loses value every day.

Uncertainty
mars new school term as doors stay closed Tuesday

Confusion and uncertainty marred the reopening of schools for the
New Year on Tuesday, as only private schools are reported to have welcomed
students back to class.

The two week postponement of the opening of
schools for the New Year was announced at the start of the year, after
2008's end of year exam results had still not been announced. The Education
Ministry said the postponement would allow teachers' time to 'finish'
marking the exams, but in fact the problem was that teachers were refusing
to return to work until their demands for better working conditions and
salaries in foreign currency have been met. Those exam results have not yet
been released.

Teachers have remained committed to the ongoing strike
that contributed to the almost total lack of schooling in 2008. Teachers
Unions have already said that schools are not yet prepared for the new term,
and Tuesday's reopening seemed unlikely to go ahead as planned. Experts have
predicted that the attendance rate is set to dramatically plummet this year
from last year's low record of 20% attendance. At the same time, the
government has made no promises to pay teachers the monthly salary of
US$2000 they have demanded; as a result no teachers were set to return to
class.

On Tuesday, state schools were forced to turn students away after
teachers failed to turn up for the New Year. Its understood private schools,
which were prepared to reopen as scheduled earlier this year, finally got
the academic year underway. But for thousands of state reliant school
students, their studies are likely set to be put on hold for an indefinite
amount if time.

Students lash out as universities stay closed

HARARE - As the universities remain closed, disgruntled
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) students have destroyed vice chancellor's
official brand new Mercedes Benz by throwing stones to smash its windows. It
is also believed that part of the psychology building had its windows stoned
and one of the security guards was beaten up in an unplanned demonstration
held at the university campus on January 21.

No arrests have
been made as the notorious riot police, known for its brutal hand on
protestors, arrived when the students had already dispersed. The UZ
protestors were demanding that the lecturers continue to teach and end the
semester as soon as February.They called for the Mugabe regime to
resolve the outstanding issues that have caused the lecturers to go on
strike, such as paying their salaries in US dollars and providing them with
the appropriate paper to sit the coming exams.

Most students
blame Mugabe's policies for the collapse of the institution which was once
ranked the best in southern Africa. They say that the regime must come to an
end and should meet the demands of striking lecturers so that the
universities can open.

"They are playing with the nation's lives, a
year had passed now since lectures were suspended," said a
student.

Analysts are expecting a significant drop in the number of
students in universities should the fees be paid in US dollars as suggested.
Fees would be between US$600 and US$800 per semester which they believe is
out of the reach of average Zimbabweans.

Only US dollars can buy education

HARARE, 27 January 2009 (IRIN) - Zimbabwean
teachers ignored the start of the new school term on 27 January and remained on
strike, demanding the payment of their salaries in US dollars.

The
opening of schools had already been delayed by a week after teachers refused to
mark the 2008 public examinations, which has affected the grading of pupils due
to enter secondary school. Teachers are demanding US$2,300 a month.

Sifiso Ndlovu, chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association, told IRIN that the strike was basically solid. "The teachers did
not report for duty throughout the country and in the poorer parts of urban
areas. The school gates and classroom doors were open, but there were no
teachers to teach the pupils."

He said some teachers at schools in the
affluent suburbs of the capital, Harare, and Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo,
had reported for duty, but did not conduct lessons.

"From our inquiries,
they were hoping to strike deals with parents so that they could be paid in
foreign currency and receive other incentives such as groceries, but we would
not want to encourage such a development as it is only [short-term]. We want to
have teachers whose welfare is completely guaranteed."

An IRIN
correspondent visited several schools around Harare and confirmed the no-show by
educators. In Harare's high-density suburbs, only head teachers were present,
while children had either been told to go home or were playing on the school
grounds.

It
is up to you, as the parents, to decide what should be done to ensure that your
children get an education

At David Livingstone Primary School,
concerned parents huddled around a teacher who announced that she would not
report for duty on 28 January as she did not have the money for bus fare.

"It is up to you, as the parents, to decide what should be done to
ensure that your children get an education. If I have no money to come to school
then I will just stay at home," she said.

The parents immediately
convened a meeting and set up a committee that would be responsible for the
teacher's welfare.

There was a similar scene at Haig Park Primary School
in the wealthy suburb of Mabelreign, where the few teachers who turned up chose
to discuss 'options' with the parents, but there appeared to be no takers. The
teachers said they would return if they received news that they would be paid in
foreign currency.

Meanwhile, teachers are already in the private tuition
market, providing lessons to the children of panicked parents. They are
responding to an economic crisis in which hyperinflation has rendered the local
currency worthless, and the economy is now almost completely dollarised.

The Zimbabwe government blames sanctions by the West for the country's
predicament. Most analysts accuse President Robert Mugabe of implementing
disastrous policies that have ruined the economy and triggered a humanitarian
emergency.

[ENDS]

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]

Daily cholera update and alerts, 26 Jan 2009

* Please note that
daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff
constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the
numbers. Any change will then be explained.

** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths
occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may
occasionally result

Questions raised over cholera threat to 2010 World Cup

By Alex Bell27
January 2009

As Zimbabwe's cholera death toll continues to rise, and as
fears grow that the epidemic has yet to reach its peak, concerns have been
raised about what the disease will mean for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in
South Africa.

Zimbabwe's neighbour has also been hard hit by the cholera
epidemic that officially has claimed almost 3000 lives in Zimbabwe, and the
infection rate is fast approaching the 'worst case scenario' of 60 000 cases
predicted earlier this year.

At the same time, as South Africa gears
up for the World Cup, health authorities there are still fighting to contain
the spread of the disease after thousands of sick Zimbabweans continue to
flee across the border in a desperate bid for medical treatment. The South
African death toll has reached more than 30 with cases reported in at least
four provinces, while the cholera bacteria has been found in major water
sources including the Limpopo river. An estimated R5million is reportedly
needed to fight the disease in the Limpopo province alone where the number
of cases has shot up to more than 3000, with 11 reported deaths.

The
questions now being raised are whether the continued spread of the disease
will pose a threat to World Cup tourists? And whether the threat of losing
the coveted title as World Cup host will force the South African government
to change its policies towards Robert Mugabe?

The epidemic has already
raised cautious eyebrows in the International Football Federation's tourism
team, who have struck Zimbabwe off the list of tourist sites. FIFA officials
have also issues travel warnings to prospective football tourists and
visiting teams about the cholera epidemic, and yet the same disease is
stalking untold numbers across South Africa.

Meanwhile as Zimbabwe's
neighbours have started counting the money expected to flood Southern
African tourism in 2010, the destruction of the country has become almost
total - to a point where even in death Zimbabweans no longer have any
dignity. SW Radio Africa's Bulawayo correspondent, Lionel Saungweme
explained on Tuesday that bodies are 'spoiling' in all major hospitals and
clinics because of the lack of refrigeration systems, and rats are infesting
'pungent' mortuaries.

"The lips and eyes and noses and even fingertips
are being eaten because there is nowhere to keep the dead bodies," Lionel
explained. "Many families are not even being contacted before the bodies are
buried without proper services."

MDC feels
sidelined by Save Zim

Johannesburg -
Leaders of the recently launched Save Zimbabwe Now campaign were on Tuesday
accused of snubbing MDC leaders.

Speaking during a media briefing
organised by the leaders of the campaign in Johannesburg, Movement for
Democratic Change spokesman in South Africa, Sibanengi Dube, questioned why
MDC leaders "who represented the majority of Zimbabweans in South Africa
were being elbowed".

The campaign was launched with much fanfare and
earned the support of high-profile people such as former president Nelson
Mandela's wife Graca Machel.

Several civil society groups in Zimbabwe
and other SADC countries also pledged to support the initiative.

"The
MDC has been at the forefront of highlighting what is happening in Zimbabwe.
One expected leaders of this campaign to involve us. We would like to get
involved because this is about Zimbabweans," said Dube.

Professor Tinyiko
Maluleke, one of the campaign's leaders, said it was not their intention to
replace the MDC.

"We do not choose any party. We just want to create a
non-partisan platform to discuss issues affecting the people of Zimbabwe. We
do not take any sides," he said.

It was agreed during the briefing
that MDC and Save Zimbabwe Now campaign leaders would meet to discuss the
MDC's concerns.

Abductees Weekly Update: Week Ending 23
January 2009

19 January 2009• An application (similar to
that in respect of Jestina Mukoko) is made in the Magistrates’ Court for
referral of certain constitutional issues to the Constitutional Court on behalf
of Broderick Takawira and Audrey Zimbudzana. The magistrate indicates that he
will hand down his ruling the following day.

20 January 2009• On Tuesday 20 January 2009 authorities
at Chikurubi Maximum Prison allowed Jestina Mukoko to be attended to by a
private medical doctor at the Avenues Clinic.

• During the examination Dr Gwatidzo diagnosed that Jestina was hyper-tensive
and her blood sugar was too high.

• The doctor also organized for x-rays and an ultra sound scan to establish
the extent of damage that had been caused by the torture on Jestina’s feet.
During the x-rays Jestina was still in leg irons.

• Dr Gwatidzo explained that he needed to monitor her for a few days and that
she was supposed to be checked on every 4 hours due to the fact that she was
hyper tensive. However, prison officials refused and Jestina was taken back to
Chikurubi, where she has since been admitted at the prison hospital. The
admission is against her will and her doctors’ recommendations that she be
admitted at a hospital that is fully equipped.

• At Chikurubi Hospital Jestina is being attended to by a one Dr Dobby who
examined her again and confirmed that she was indeed hyper tensive and she
needed to be monitored and this could not be done when she was in the cells. Dr
Dobby then recommended that she be admitted at the prison hospital. The prison
hospital is a pre dominantly male facility and there are no facilities for
women. Although the matron indicated that she could not be admitted at a male
facility the doctor insisted resulting in a matron’s office being converted into
a ward. The doctor is regularly monitoring her blood pressure.

• During the evening of 21 January 2009, Jestina slept with leg irons on and
only managed to get them removed when the prison officers changed shifts at
round 22:00 hours, after she had complained about the discomfort to the
attending prison officers who indicated that it was not normal practice to leave
a prisoner with leg irons even when they are in hospital and especially while
they are sleeping.

• Jestina has since been put on medication, which includes, Hyper tension
drugs HCT and Federan.21 January 2009• High Court Judge
Justice November Muchiya orders Clerk of Court to issue a warrant of liberation
in respect of Tawanda Bvumo. Muchiya tells State lawyers that if they want to
charge Bvumo they should proceed by way of summons.23 January
2009• Harare Magistrate Gloria Takundwa on 23 January postponed to
26 January 2009 the case against freelance photojournalist Anderson Shadreck
Manyere who is being charged with alleged acts of banditry in contravention of
the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. The case was postponed after
Manyere and his co-accused failed to turn up in court as expected. The reasons
for their failure to appear in court could not be immediately
ascertained.• High Court Judge Justice Yunus Omerjee grants bail to Bindura
Mayor Daniso Wakatama and Tongai Jeki who were accused of making threatening
calls to police officers, investigating the assassination attempt on Airforce of
Zimbabwe Commander Perence Shiri.• Tawanda Bvumo is finally released from
prison around 2:PM in compliance with High Court Judge Justice November
Muchiya’s order of Wednesday 21 January 2009.

Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange Closed Indefinitely, CEO Says

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe's stock exchange, shut two months
after the central bank accused traders of using fraudulent checks, will
remain closed until the government agrees on a plan to denominate shares in
dollars, the bourse's chief said.

"We've reached agreement in
principle to dollarize trading, but there are still some issues," Emmanuel
Munyukwi, chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, said in a
telephone interview from the capital Harare yesterday. "At this point it's
hard to say how long it will take or when trading will
resume."

Zimbabwe's dollar, the world's worst performing currency, has
plunged to about 37 million per U.S. dollar at official rates from a 30,000
peg a year ago, and now trades as much as 40 billion on the black market.
The U.S. currency is used for daily purchases, when it can be obtained, for
ease of transactions. Businesses that trade in Zimbabwean dollars raise
prices as many as four times a day.

Zimbabwe has been mired in a
decade of economic recession that caused shortages of food, fuel and other
basic commodities. At least 2,971 people have died as a result of a cholera
outbreak, according to the United Nations. Inflation is about 89.7
sextillion percent, based on estimates by the Cato Institute in
November.

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has been one place where local
assets had been able to make up for some of the currency's devaluation and
inflation. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Industrial Index gained 56,436
percent in September, and 3,765 percent in October, according to Bloomberg
data.

Scandal

Trading was stopped from Nov. 21 after Zimbabwe's
central bank accused some traders of using fraudulent checks to buy shares.
Eleven companies and nine individuals had their accounts frozen on Nov. 20
after the checks totaling "60 hexillion" Zimbabwe dollars had been used to
buy shares, Zimbabwe's central bank governor Gideon Gono said in a
statement.

Lawmakers are discussing whether to use the U.S. dollar, the
South African rand or the Zimbabwean dollar in the national budget, due to
be presented on Jan. 29, the Herald, based in Harare, reported today. They
must also decide whether stockbrokers should be required to lodge dollar
deposits with their bankers or the central bank, Munyukwi said. Zimbabwe's
Securities Commission may demand a $500,000 guarantee from stockbrokers
before trade on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange resumes, the Herald reported
Jan. 21, citing Willia Bonyongwe, the commission's chairwoman.

Dollar
Deposits

The prices of stocks will also have to be re-evaluated and a
review of taxes will have to take place, Munyukwi added. Some 7 percent of
the trade on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange goes to the government in the form
of stamp duty, value-added tax and commissions, Lalla
said.

Zimbabwe's main opposition party will decide this weekend whether
to bow to southern African leaders' insistence that it agree to implement a
power-sharing agreement and join President Robert Mugabe's
government.

"In the economic carnage of the last 10 years, the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange has almost been this one beacon of light," Russell Loubser,
chief executive officer of South Africa's stock exchange, said in an
interview on Jan. 20.

The closure of the exchange has left investors with
"no vehicle in which to maintain the value of their dollars," Rishay Lalla,
a fund manager at Imara Asset Management said by phone from Harare today.
"The price of stocks in the last few months have been distorted because of
the hyper inflation."

Sugar
producers suspend deliveries

MASVINGO - Zimbabwe's sugar producers have suspended indefinitely
the sale of sugar, while demanding that the price of the commodity be pegged
in foreign currency amid reports that workers in the industry have downed
tools demanding salaries in forex.

The country's two sugar milling
giants Triangle Limited and Hippo Valley have stopped delivering sugar
arguing that the Zimbabwean dollar is now useless.

The move is likely
to further worsen the shortage of the product on the local market where it
has been in short supply since 2007.

Sugar prices in the country are
controlled by government and the players in the industry have to apply to
the state to set new prices.

Sources at the two companies yesterday
revealed that all sales had been suspended while those who had booked for
supplies had their orders cancelled.

However the companies will
continue to service their external markets

"We have stopped all sugar
sales until such a time when we are allowed to sell the product in forex",
said a senior official at Triangle.

"It has become unviable to continue
selling the product in Zimbabwean dollars and we have since formally applied
for the prices to be pegged in forex".

Press Release- Former Ambassador to Lecture in Zimbabwe

Former
Ambassador,
George W. Haley to Lecture in
Zimbabwe

Harare, January 27, 2009-The U.S. Department
of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs has awarded a U.S.
Speaker and Specialist Grant to Ambassador George W. Haley to conduct a series
of lectures and programs on the civil rights movement: the role of non-violent
action in advancing civil rights in the U.S. George W. Haley was the United
States Ambassador to The Gambia, West Africa from 1998 to 2000. The Ambassador
will appear in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia from January 31 through February 12, 2009.
The U.S. Speaker and Specialist program recruits and arranges for travel of
American professionals to conduct programs or lectures, concerts, workshops,
master classes, and formal and informal meetings with professional counterparts
throughout the world. The program is administered abroad by the American
Embassies and Consulates in the host countries.

Ambassador Haley said he
looked forward to these lectures and the interaction with people in Africa, as
well as other nations, which he considers highly necessary for the continuation
of our nation’s well being. Haley has made countless appearances through the
years on the domestic and international scene. A veteran of the Second World
War, he graduated from Morehouse College in 1949 and from the University of
Arkansas School of Law in 1952 as its second black graduate. His experiences
have been numerous and varied in government and private affairs. He practiced
law in Kansas and the District of Columbia and is also admitted to practice in
Arkansas and the United States Supreme Court. He has served as a deputy city
attorney in Kansas City and as a Kansas State Senator. He likes to report that
his son, David, currently serving in the Kansas State Senate, represents much of
the same district that he represented in the 1960’s. His daughter, Anne, is
currently an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles.

Ambassador Haley has served
as Chief Counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (now, Urban
Mass Transit) in the U.S. Department of Transportation; General Counsel and
Congressional Liaison for the United States Information Agency; Chairman of the
Postal Rate Commission and as Ambassador to The Gambia. He has also been on
several international delegations including two trips to Paris as a part of
UNESCO meetings, and ICARA in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ambassador Haley is widely
traveled and has made appearances in many countries in Europe, South America,
the Persian Gulf, Asia and Africa. Of all his international appearances, the one
he prizes most came in Australia when he was invited to have a joint lecture at
Bond University with his daughter, Anne, who at that time, was a
professor-in-residence in the law school at the University.

Ambassador Haley has
received many awards, honors and recognitions. His schools, Morehouse and the
University of Arkansas have honored him several times. He was given the Bennie
Mays award, which is a coveted honor for a Morehouse Man. He delivered the
Commencement Address at the University of Arkansas in 2003 and was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of Laws and the following week, he delivered the Commencement
Address at Utica College in New York where he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane
Letters. The National Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association,
The Olender Foundation in Washington, D.C. have awarded him honors.

Haley is a lifetime member
of the NAACP, a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, The Masons, the Board of Directors of Africare and an active member
of Israel Metropolitan CME Church in Washington, D.C.

He is married to Doris
Moxley Haley. Mrs. Haley is a retired high school teacher. In addition to their
two children, David and Anne, both lawyers, the Haley’s have seven
grandchildren. He is the brother of the late Alex Haley, Author of the
book,Roots.

Government
Scheme to Access Forex Blocks Small Business

BULAWAYO, Jan 27 (IPS) - The ZANU-PF government's efforts to gain
access to foreign exchange (also known as forex) by imposing an expensive
licensing system on Zimbabwean enterprises, enforced with the threat of
prosecution, is undermining one of the last remaining means of survival in
the collapsing country.

According to criteria set by Zimbabwe's
Reserve Bank last year for the foreign exchange licensed warehouses and
retail shops (FOLIWARS) project, businesses intending to sell in foreign
currency must deposit 20,000 U.S. dollars with the bank for them to be
issued with a licence.

Bank governor Gideon Gono called the FOLIWARS an
18-month experiment. But concerns are being raised that the project is
forcing many small enterprises out of the market at a time when local
industries have virtually shut down because of an inability to generate
foreign currency reserves previously earned through exports.

''No one
wants to use the Zimbabwean dollar and for us without licences, this year is
going to be particularly tough as our currency has become useless,'' said an
exasperated Tadiwa Furusa, a 32-year-old small businessperson, in an
interview with IPS. ''We cannot keep accepting a currency which has been
pushed out by rampant inflation.''

Local economist Gilbert Psvarai said
FOLIWARS is part of government efforts to obtain foreign currency to finance
its programmes after ZANU PF policies destroyed agriculture, previously the
country's major foreign exchange earner, and industry.

''The central
bank came up with this project as part of obvious attempts to get foreign
currency from both business and the consumers,'' Psvarai told IPS. ''But it
is obvious this thing was not well thought out as both business and the
general public are bearing the brunt of pricing in forex,'' he
added.

However, companies with ties to ZANU PF are believed to have easy
access to foreign currency. They were largely the first ones to be granted
FOLIWARS licences, enabling them to make super profits at a time when other
business concerns are struggling to raise the licence fee.

For Furusa
the year 2009 has not arrived with glad tidings.

The beginning of a new
year is usually an opportunity for businesspeople to make projections for
the approaching year. It is a time when they set goals about opening new
branches and increasing staff, in the process creating employment school
leavers. This is especially important in developing countries where formal
employment opportunities are limited.

But Furusa finds himself
contemplating leaving the country as his business is facing increasing
difficulties. Zimbabwe's economic crisis shows no signs of letting up, given
the protracted deadlock between the country's main political parties that
have failed to form a government almost a year after
elections.

Furusa is a university graduate who has been forced to
abandon his profession as an environmental scientist to sell hardware and
run a grinding mill. Despite the hardships that characterised 2008, he was
set for ''greater things'' in 2009.

However, regulations set by the
country's central bank have shattered his dreams.

''In early 2008,
before the legalisation of shops using foreign currency, we were able to
sell in the local currency and managed to stay in business,'' explained
Furusa.

''Now that the local (Zimbabwean) dollar has become useless we
want to sell in foreign currency but we face arrest from the authorities. It
is difficult because we cannot afford the demands put in place by the
central bank for one to be licensed to sell in foreign
currency.''

Zimbabwe's world record recession enters its 10th year and,
despite ostensible efforts by government to promote small-and-medium
enterprises (SMEs), industry officials say banks no longer issue loans to
any businesses as the local currency loses value as soon as it leaves the
bank.

''Sourcing foreign currency from the parallel market has meant
small businesses struggle to finance themselves as the local dollar has
rapidly lost value against major currencies,'' according to Thomson Hazvinei
of the Affirmative Action Group (AAG), a grouping that champions the
interests of indigenous business people.

''Banks cannot loan foreign
currency and we know banks are not getting any deposits of the local
currency from the people. It is a wonder that some businesses are surviving
right now,'' Hazvinei told IPS.

Local economists, commerce and industry
officials agree that the unofficial ''dollarisation'' of the Zimbabwean
economy has pushed the local currency out of use as legal tender in a
country where the World Bank says the economy has shrunk by more than 70
percent since the year 2000.

The inability of small businesses to operate
and to create employment has increased poverty levels, complained
Hazvinei.

Said Furusa, ''it is our intention to create jobs but
conditions being set for us by the authorities are making this impossible
and that is the reason why some of us want to quit''.

Judith Hadebe
is a cross-border trader who has had brushes with the law for selling her
wares in foreign currency. ''We have to deal with the police who insist that
we sell in the local dollar, but that is threatening our operations,'' said
Hadebe. ''This is despite the fact that our customers are willing to buy in
foreign currency.''

Simba Phiri of the Bulawayo Traders Associations says
they are being forced out of business as they are failing to raise the
USD20,000 demanded by the central bank for them to be licensed to sell in
foreign currency.

"By continuing to sell in the local dollar, we risk
closure as the local currency is no longer considered legal tender by both
customers and suppliers," Phiri said.

Early this month the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce, an organisation representing businesspeople,
called on the government to review FOLIWARS as it was prejudicing small
businesses as they cannot afford the licence fees. (END/2009)

Residents reject proposal to charge municipal services in forex

26 January
2009

The residents of Harare are in for yet another difficult year as the City of
Harare is contemplating charging for municipal
services in foreign currency. The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA),
is reliably informed that the City’s Finance Committee and other Council
executives are scheduled to meet today (26 January 2009) to deliberate on how
this move will be effected; a move that will relegate more than 80% of the
Harare populace to a position where they will not afford to pay for municipal
services (since most of them get their income in Zimbabwean dollars). CHRA
strongly discourages such a move as it will make municipal services inaccessible
to most residents in Harare.

The City of Harare is already charging its health fees in foreign
currency with consultation fees for adults pegged at US$5 while children pay
US$3. Sources inside the Council also revealed that the City of Harare has been
charging residents and corporate companies exorbitant amounts of Zimbabwean
dollars in rentals and rates as a way of discouraging payments in local
currency. This move has forced some individuals to opt to pay their bills in
foreign currency as they cannot access the said Zimbabwean dollars at the banks
while those who do not have access to foreign currency have had to face the
brunt of services being cut off.

CHRA feels that the City of Harare is giving residents a raw and unfair deal. It should
be noted that municipal services are under the Public Services sector and hence
they should be accessible to all and sundry. Such services should be subsidized
by the Government. Furthermore, the harsh economic environment currently
obtaining in the country has forced most people out of employment. The
unemployed are finding it difficult to make ends meet as the informal sector was
destroyed by Operation Murambatsvina. Even the few residents who are trying to
earn a living through vending and other trades have had to brave the continuous
harassment from both the municipal and Zimbabwe Republic Police who continuously
confiscate their goods. Some are even arrested for selling their goods in
foreign currency without licenses from the Central Bank. Those who have been
caught buying foreign currency on the streets have had their money confiscated
(if not arrested). The banks are not selling foreign currency. It defies logic
to think that residents are expected to pay their utility bills in foreign
currency when it is clear that they have little or no means of getting that
foreign currency.

The Combined Harare Residents Association
hopes that the City of Harare Finance
Committee and the Council Executive Body will take these
points into consideration before making any decisions on the matter and also to
avoid misguided decisions that will impact negatively on the livelihood of
residents. CHRA remains committed to fighting for the residents’ cause and to
advocate for quality and affordable municipal services.

A Voice for the voiceless - come to London Vigil this
Saturday

By: Adrian Smale

With so many having
already lost their lives to cholera I read that the Red Cross and others may
need to pull out of Zimbabwe for lack of funds. The World's eyes have
understandingly been drawn to the situation in Gaza, BUT with nearly 3
thousand lives already cruelly claimed by this easily preventable disease,
and the situation getting worst, we have to bring this back onto the TV and
media for the sake of those without a voice who are suffering right
now.

At the Vigil this week someone commented that despite a
relatively good turnout (243 signed the register) where was everyone? They
have a point, but one can only admire the commitment of those who week after
week keep the protest going, and it does matter and it is important. It is
easy after so many years, to simply lose hope. But this we must not do for
the sake of the children of Zimbabwe. How can we in our minds eye or in
reality look into their eyes and say we will not speak out? We must not
'pass by on the other side" as in Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan
(Luke 10:30), even if the leaders who can exert real power in the region
continue to betray the principals of justice, freedom and basic
humanity.

As I write there was an announcement on Sky news that
an 'agreement' had been concluded but how can anyone have any faith in this
when among so many other things the submission by Zimbabwe Lawyers' to SADC
Summit clearly detailing abuses of power are simply being ignored.
Zimbabweans are not getting the government they voted for or in some cases
died for.

Zimfest in the UK last year draw some 5000 visitors
including myself. So we should be able to bring together 500 people outside
the Zimbabwean Embassy at 429 The Strand. We can act to highlight the needs
of Zimbabweans both in Zimbabwe and here in the UK, and give those without a
voice, a voice!

So, if you are reading this, why not come to
London this Saturday? Why not bring a friend or friends, hire a coach if
need be; do a banner or bring a drum or flag? Be creative! See you
then!!

Comment from a correspondent

Comments from your correspondent Lucas
Mbambo writing for Zimbabwe Times are totally misplaced.

Other than
that we have heard this line of thinking a gazillion times it is sad to see
there are some among us who think they can make a name for themselves by
repeating this tired mantra.

A people who were able to free themselves
from the bondage of servitude via the armed struggle can hardly be described
as cowards. Presently we have the likes of Jenni Williams, Lovemore Madhuku
and many others who are at the forefront of confronting this regime. If your
correspondent imagines that the whole of Zimbabwe will rise up as one then
he must be reading a lot Grimms and Anderson's fairy tales. This Don
Quixotic approach is not going to happen in Zimbabwe because of the brute
force that will meet it. This has been proven times beyond number.

It
should be instructive to note the successes these demonstrations have scored
in China, Cuba, North Korea , Burma(Mynmar) and other places, the answer is
that bones have been broken and lives have been lost. Lucas can of course
come to Zimbabwe and try if he is so inclined. The current leadership in
Zimbabwe has decided to explore other avenues that seem to be yielding
results albeit slowly..Demnstrations are not the only way Lucas my friend
and societies are different and are operating at different levels of their
resistance.

This of course should be known by now..if maybe Lucas
wanted to tell his friends that he has bought a house in the UK well and
good.With the current international financial crisis Lucas has every right
to be crowing about his good fortune but pretending that he is the receiver
general of wisdom by penning this article which borders on the Johnny Bravo
and Sponge Bob Square Pants cartoons is unfortunate to say the least.Did he
give himself time to look around him before making a clown of himself and
his readership with this nonsense?